Olharapo

Hi Tony,

I believe the medal is the WW1 Portuguese War Cross, which had two different styles of ribbon suspension. I started a (short-lived) thread on these if you want to take a look: http://gmic.co.uk/in...showtopic=44434

It appears the man was also cited twice (note the cross on the ribbon).

Nice PIC!! The one in the opening post doesn't show (?) though. Nice collection on your site! You have some rather nice examples, congrats!

Tim:cheers:

Thx

P.S.: The 1st pic was a full group one just like the one bellow

Hi!

The medal it's a Portuguese War Cross.

There are different types of suspension. In this case the ribbon it's a little shorter and have a metal bar with spheres at the end (so it can't slide) that passes through the ribbon.

The rifles (infantry) are made from metal.

Best regards.

Welcome to the forum Olharapo (even though you've been here a while now).

That's a great case and I'm guessing it could be a US made example. Turned into trench art for a German or Frenchman which I'm basing on the word Mai, both meaning May in French and German but you probably know that anyway.

Tony

Hi!

Thank you for the information.

About this piece I only knew that it was made in May 1917 and that the flowers engraved are typical from the season.

Best regards

Like I promise, here goes a set with details from the same photo.

I've never come across any Great War Portuguese militaria before apart from a Brodie helmet used by the post war civil defence or similar group.

Keep the photos coming if you have more.

Tony

Hi have some more photos that I'll post later.

Feel free to take a look at my collection at http://picasaweb.goo...yWWICollection# and to make any questions.

Best regards!

Here is a photo of a Portuguese officers and soldiers group in Flanders.

One of them have a war cross. I'll try to post a nice detail.

Unfortunately I don't have any info about this pic

I'll also add two more nice photos that are too big for my scanner ;)

In colour I only have this one:

You can read: Portugal and Great Britain shake their old ally's hands"

:)

Excellent collection!

I only collect Portuguese items, but this one it's an exception (it's most probably not Portuguese since the expeditionary corps where near Neuve Chapelle) and my only trench art piece:

Bingo!!!

Furtados' article on these was in the November/December 2008 issue of the JOMSA. It Has EVERYTHING you need in it.

The state legislated the cross and private firms and shops in Portugal manufacture different variations. The old state military factories/mints have closed and these are still made today. Apparently, there is therefore, no such thing a a "fake' version of the cross. French firms may also have made the cross after WW1.

There are three different types with different centers (national shield)and reverse motifs: 1917, 1949 and 1971

For me it's always a fake if does'nt make a bridge to the story envolving the item (medal or not) ;)

That's good to know about the old OMSA articles. I had seen an ebay seller that recently had several of these older ('70's era) magazine lots offered for auction dirt cheap, but they were hit or miss of which ones he had and it always seemed the ones I were after were missing from the group.

Looking at the site, I do not see where it shows what magazines and what contents are available. Do you have to be a member to view this?

Thanks!

Tim

Yes, you need to be a member to access the "abstract" of the article.

:)

Hello again,

Yes, very hard to find information on Portuguese awards. Any clue on how many maker's might be involved here? I would also be very interested in seeing different manufacturer versions of the Victory Medal if you have any.

Thanks for adding to the thread!

Tim

About the VIC, all I know is that there are 2 official types and 2 unofficial. I believe that there is a later type in a shiny metal made for those who had someone in the family that fought in the WWI but no medal.

But I'll ask a friend of mine about this matter. I knows allot more than me about the VIC.

You can check the my collection page (http://picasaweb.google.pt/joaosilvapsi/MyCollection#). I have the 1st official model and latest one.

No prob about adding to the thread. I enjoy to exchange knowledge :)

Very nice!

So, do you attribute the differences to different makers/manufacturers, or are these differences perhaps differentiating between the colonial pieces you mentioned earlier?

Regards,

Tim

I believe that they are from different manufacturers. The same happened with the Victory Medal.

Unfortunately, there are not much information about Portuguese medals and most of the information passes around in forums or throw a rare enthusiast (normally someone in the army, a museum curator or a collectionist).

Hi.

There are some differences between the models.

Take the 1916 War Cross for an example: there are 4 (I think) models with slight differences, normally in the thickness, the central figure and in the rim.

Here you can see for yourself two 1916 war cross types (from my collection), and the one from the 1st pic.

Hi!

1st one its a wwi type

2nd a portuguese legion type

3rd colonial war type

4th another wwi type

5th type looks like a differente colonial war model, but I´m not sure.

Best regards